Educatall team suggests an imaginary game to play with children. (Open thematic letter - Recycling) Print the letter and insert it in an envelope. Hide the envelope in an easy to find location within the daycare. During circle time, ask children to find the envelope and read portions of the letter to them each day.

AREA SETUP

Create a garden corner within the daycare. Fill a large container with soil and add gardening tools, plastic vegetables, and an empty watering can. Children will love "gardening". Variation: You may also include a plastic container filled with water. Children can "wash" the vegetables they pick in their garden.

Garlands(Open garland - Earth Day) Print and hang from the ceiling using fishing wire. Cut strips of blue and green construction paper. Loop the strips together to form a chain, alternating colors. Hang from the ceiling.

PICTURE GAME

The pictures may be used as a memory game or to spark a conversation with your group. Use them to decorate your daycare or a thematic corner. (Open picture game - Earth Day) Print, laminate, and store in a "Ziploc" bag or in your thematic bin.

Picture clue story(Open picture clue story - Earth Day) Print. Sit in a circle with your group. Begin reading the story. Pause for each picture clue. Point to the clue and have children guess the missing word.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS

Lost in spacePhotocopy pictures of planets and laminate them. Display the pictures on the walls of your daycare. Inform children that you are all lost in space. Tell them that, together, you must find the Earth. Move around like rockets, from one picture to the next, until you find the Earth.

Jump on the Earth(Open model - Earth) Print. Laminate and secure the illustrations on the floor. Play music. When the music stops, children must quickly sit on an illustration (variation of musical chairs).

From one continent to anotherDeposit seven hula hoops on the floor (or outline seven circles using a rope). Children stand around the circles which represent continents. They take turns jumping from one continent to another (circles) to the sound of music. When the music stops, if a child is inside one of the circles, he must stay there. The game continues until all the children are on the same continent.

Rain danceProvide music and encourage children to dance. Discuss traditional rain dancing.

Cardinal points

(Open Cardinal points wheel) Print, cut out, and laminate. Attach the arrow using a fastener. Show children the different cardinal points (North, South, East, West). Go for a walk and use a compass to find the different cardinal points. Children associate the arrow on the wheel to the matching cardinal point.

The Earth is roundGive each child an inflated balloon. Let children draw on their balloon. Encourage them to try to spin it, just like the Earth spins on its axis.

We spin, like the EarthDeposit exercise mats on the floor. Let children perform somersaults...

The Earth spinsDivide your group into teams of three children. One child is the Earth, another child is the Moon, and the third child is the Sun. The children who are playing the role of the Sun do not move. Explain how the Earth is constantly moving, that it spins on its axis and around the sun. Children who are playing the role of the Earth must therefore spin around while spinning around the child playing the role of the Sun in their team. The child playing the role of the Moon must also spin around while spinning around the child playing the role of the Earth. Variation for younger children: Children work in groups of two. Simply have the child playing the role of the Earth spin around the child playing the role of the Sun.

I am cutting circles-The Earth is round

(Open I am learning to cut circles) Print for each child. Throughout the theme, children can practice cutting circles which, like the Earth, are round. Variation: Children could trace the circles before cutting them out.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

I recycle to protect the EarthProvide several different plastic containers and empty cardboard boxes. Children will love using them to build a castle out of recycled material. Your local grocer will surely be glad to give you cardboard boxes. Let children play with the boxes as they wish. They can have fun for hours building tunnels, houses, towers, and structures of all kinds.

Wet walkGo for a walk in the rain. Touch the rain. Is it hot or cold? Notice the color of the sky and the shapes of the clouds. Fill buckets with rainwater. Observe the water. Jump in puddles and search for worms. When you return, explain the importance of rain and how, without rain, the Earth would suffer.

ACTIVITIES INVOLVING PARENTS

I protect the environmentProvide a large piece of green cardboard. With their parents, children search in magazines and catalogues for pictures of objects, activities, or actions which protect the environment. During circle time, children present the pictures they found and glue them on the green cardboard. Display near the daycare entrance.

Find the Earth(Open game - Find the Earth) Print, laminate, and cut out. Hide the moon, sun, and star illustrations throughout the daycare (use adhesive putty to stick them on the walls). Hide only one Earth illustration. When you give them the signal, children must walk around the daycare and give you the illustrations they collect. The object of the game is to find the Earth. The child who finds it gets to help you hide the illustrations for the following round.

Let's save the planet(Open game - Save the planet) Print the cards and laminate them. Place the illustrations face down on the floor. Children take turns turning a card over. They must name the action which is illustrated on the card and state whether or not the action will save the planet or not. If they provide the correct answer, they may keep the card. The game ends when all the cards have been used. Children count the cards they collected.

I am learning to recycle(Open I recycle well) Print. Prepare four boxes and glue one card per box to represent the recycling categories: plastic, glass, metal, and paper. Sit in a circle. Deposit various objects in the center of the circle (plastic bottles, shoeboxes, glass bottles, metal cans, etc.) Pass each object around the circle. Ask children to sort the objects, placing them in the correct recycling bin.

The globeArrange a special table which includes a globe and picture books about different countries. Display a map of the world nearby, at children's eye level. Encourage children to locate the countries shown in the books on the globe and on the map.

MORAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

A classic-To save my planetChildren sit in a circle. The first child says, "To save my planet, I must...", and names an environmentally friendly action. The next child must repeat the action the first child said and add one of his own, and so on.

Falling rainDeposit mattresses and blankets near a window on a rainy day. Invite children to relax while watching the rain fall, listening to its pitter patter.

EARLY SCIENCE

Miniature gardenUse an aluminum pie plate per child. Help children fill their pie plate with soil using a tablespoon. Next, children plant small branches, rocks, plants, and flowers they collected while you were outside. Let children water their miniature garden.

The importance of waterUse dried fruits and vegetables (like the ones used to make soup). Add them to a transparent container filled with water. Children will experiment with dehydration and rehydration. Set apple or orange slices out to dry. Children may eat them for their afternoon snack. Water plants with your group. Explain the importance of water. End the activity by offering them a tall glass of water to drink.

CULINARY ACTIVITIES

GlacierPurchase assorted balloons. Fill them with water and place them in the freezer. Once the water is frozen, peel the balloon off, keeping only the frozen balls of ice. Deposit the ice in a small inflatable pool or in a large container. Let children manipulate it. Watch the glaciers transform as they melt.

ARTS & CRAFTS

Mrs. Earth(Open craft - Mrs. Earth) Print. Have children color and cut out the pieces. Use the planet for Mrs. Earth's head and body. Fold strips of paper accordion-style for the arms and legs. Glue the medium-sized flowers to the ends of the strips to represent the hands and feet.

Crumpled planet(Open craft - Earth) Print for each child. Glue on cardboard. Fill the Earth's sections with glue. Crumple tiny balls of green and blue tissue paper and use them to complete the Earth.

Earth stained glass windowTrace a circle the size of a plate and cut out the center. Glue a piece of contact paper to one side of the Earth. Turn it over and add pieces of Earth-coloured cellophane paper to the sticky side. Display in a window.

Earth clock(Open clock - Earth) Print and cut out the pieces. Cut the center out of a paper plate. Ask children to glue the picture of the Earth in the bottom of the plate. Next, have them add the numbers around the contour of the plate, making sure to place 12 at the top and 6 at the bottom. Make a small hole in the center of the plate. Use a fastener to attach the clock's hands in the center.

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